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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2010)
The INDEPENDENT, February 18, 2010 Where to Find Them U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (Dem) 1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 585 Portland OR 97232 Phone: 503-326-7525 223 Dirksen Senate Ofc. Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20510-0001 Phone: 202-224-5244 E-Mail: http://wyden.senate.gov/ contact Website: http://wyden.senate. gov U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (Dem.) One World Trade Center 121 SW Salmon St., Suite 1250 Portland, OR 97204 Phone: 503-326-3386 107 Russell Senate Ofc. Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 Phone: (202) 224-3753 E-Mail: http://merkley.senate. gov/contact WebSite: http://merkley.senate. gov U.S. Representative David Wu (Dem) OR District 1 620 SW Main, Suite 606 Portland, OR 97205 Phone: 503-326-2901 2338 Rayburn House Ofc. Bldg. Washington, DC 20515 Phone: 202-225-0855 Website: http://house.gov/wu Letters $1,000,000 is a lot of money to most folks To the Editor: I am seventy years old, and I have worked all of my life. I was both saddened and amused to hear RNC Chair Michael Steel say “A million dollars is not a lot of money.” I am sure that to him a Mil- lion isn’t a big number. But to me it is an insur- mountable amount. I have good earnings, I make almost $50,000 a year. If I were to save all of my mon- ey,and not spend a cent on food, rent, medical, or clothing it would still take me over 22 years to amass a million dol- lars. I see a certain callousness in Michael Steele’s comments. I believe that the leaders of the Republican Party have lost touch with the American peo- ple, and to quote others “are more inclined to favor Wall Street over Main Street.” Bill Eagle St. Helens Senator Betsy Johnson City pointing fingers in wrong direction (Dem) Senate District 16 PO Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056 Phone: 503-543-4046 900 Court St. NE, S-314 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-986-1716 E-mail: sen.betsyjohnson@ state.or.us Website: http//www.leg.state.or. us/johnson To the Editor: The city council’s February 1st meeting turned out to be a rather interesting event. The planning commission’s ridicu- lous sign ordinance attracted many concerned citizens from Vernonia’s business communi- ty. Their attendance got them more than they bargained for! Representative Brad Witt (Dem) House District. 31 21740 Lindberg Road, Clatskanie, OR 97016 Phone: 503-728-4664 900 Court St. NE, H-373 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-986-1431 E-mail: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us Website: http//www.leg.state.or. us/witt Representative Deborah Boone (Dem) House District 32 PO Box 926 Cannon Beach, OR 97110 Phone: 503-717-9182 900 Court St. NE, H-375 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-986-1432 E-mail: rep.deborahboone@ state.or.us Website: http//www.leg.state.or. us/boone Page 3 Mayor Sally Harrison per- formed her usual dog and pony show. Oh, how she loves a cap- tive audience. It appeared Ms. Harrison was upset with Clark McGaugh of The Independent. I wonder why? The Independent is a publication the residents of Ver- nonia and Columbia County have relied on for the past 25 years…they are our communi- ty’s watch dog. They’re a publi- cation known for reporting fair, truthful, and accurate articles. Without them there’s no telling what the city council would get away with. Bashing a reputable news publication only makes bad press for Ms. Harrison. If she can’t take the heat then maybe she should resign her post as mayor. Or maybe…for once…she should try being nice! Ms. Harrison was the open- ing act for the city council’s main attraction. Mr. Jason Short, [Vernonia Police Cap- tain] Mike Kay’s lawyer, made a special guest appearance. Mr. Short came all the way from Hillsboro to do what good de- fense lawyers do…create con- fusion. He came here to dis- tract the public from the real is- sue. Interesting…he just hap- pened to show up when the city council knew there would be a full house. Was this just a coin- cident or was this another at- tempt to manipulate the public? So what’s the real issue? The real issue is a public safe- ty officer who may have a se- vere personality disorder. It’s about an alleged felony assault on a female victim in the pres- ence of her child. This occurred while Kay was employed as a public safety officer for the city of Newport. Mr. Short men- tioned Kay was acquitted of these charges. Most free-think- ing individuals realize a trial is only a legal process. They real- ize some people are acquitted even when they’re still pre- sumed to be guilty. Examples: Bernard Goetz, O.J. Simpson, Lorena Bobbitt, the cops who beat Rodney King, etc. Mr. Short failed to mention any of the testimony presented by the victim. He must have felt it was irrelevant because it hap- pened long ago. But is it irrele- vant? Or…is the victim’s testi- mony a relevant part of Kay’s psychological history? Let’s examine a couple of statements. The victim testified under oath, about 12 years ago. She said Kay, while in a rage, made the following threat: “If the Newport Police get me and I lose my job for domestic assault not only will I beat the shit out of you but I will put a bullet in your head and they will find you dead in a ditch.” Less than a year ago, then Interim Police Chief Kay had a suspect subdued and hand- cuffed. While in a rage he made the following statement: “I carry a gun 24/7 threaten me and watch what happens. You will go home in a f****** bag.” At an- other point…“Come near me or Salem Scene By Representative Brad Witt Oregon District 31 When State Economist Tom Potiowski met with the Revenue Committee this week, we were hold- ing our collective breath to see what the prognosis would be for the remain- der of the biennium. It was a little worse than we had hoped but better than it could have been. The forecast showed a continuing revenue decline of $183 million. The plan to balance the budget includes pass- ing reforms to the Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) that will recover about $55 million. In addition, the Legislature left a $79 million posi- tive general fund balance at the end of the regu- lar session. After factoring in these two sources, the Legislature faces a budget hole of approxi- mately $50 million. Additionally, we have ap- proximately $220 million in the Rainy Day and Education Stability funds. We will still need to pare a little more from non-essential budgets, but will be able to protect core services like edu- cation, health care and public safety. The recession has caused states across the country to pare back critical services and make huge budget reductions, for example, the state of Washington is facing a $2.8 billion budget deficit. But there are clear signs that Oregon is actually faring better than most other states and is slowly working its way toward recovery. Ore- gon added 2900 jobs in January, the third best in the nation. As the Legislature works to rebal- ance the budget over the next three weeks, we will continue to do everything that we can to pro- tect middle class families from the effects of the national and global economic downturn. I will also speak against bills that I feel are re- gressive in their effect on those who are least able to afford increases in taxes and fees, as I did on the House floor this week. Please see page 5 my family I will put two right in your chest.” It then appeared Kay assaulted the suspect causing him to lose conscious- ness. He drove the suspect to the Vernonia Police Station where the paramedics revived him. There’s no indication the suspect made any threats that would cause Kay to behave this way. In fact, the suspect while under duress, begged Kay to stop. Just picture how large a person Kay is. Kay, at one time, bragged he could bench press 425 pounds. Do these two events sound similar? These are only two ex- ample, there are many more. The city council, Police Chief Frank Grace, and the city ad- ministrator are well aware of this; or at least they should be. The DPSST has not yet been informed of this. The city coun- cil appears to be grooming Kay for police chief. Is this an indi- vidual we want as chief? I per- sonally wouldn’t want him working as a chief or public safety officer, anywhere! I’m not sure why, but until re- cently, the above mentioned public record appeared to be a secret…even to the district at- torney. Maybe they didn’t want this made public. Maybe Chief Grace can explain! Edward Johnson Vernonia Witt bill is back with no sponsors names To the Editor: Last year at this time our state Representative, Brad Witt, introduced a bill in the leg- islature to allow corporations to seek to use private property without the owner’s consent. Natural gas and LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) companies would have been allowed to apply for and receive wetland fill permits on property they didn’t own, without even notifying the own- er. They could have gotten the Please see page 22 Policy on Letters The INDEPENDENT will not publish letters with per- sonal attacks on private citi- zens. Preference will be giv- en to brief letters, 300 words or less. All letters must be signed and include a verifiable ad- dress or phone number.